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Dawasamu Hub Achievement Report March 2015 Objective: Womens Empowerment / Income Generation

Creating Alternative Income Opportunities for Women

GVI creates new income generation project for womens groups within the Dawasamu district.

Subsistence farming and fishing is the way of life here in the Dawasamu district of Tailevu. Roles within the community are traditionally divided by gender, with specific jobs allocated to men and women. As women are in most cases the primary caregivers for children, many women are responsible for looking after large families and are responsible for cooking, cleaning and washing throughout the day. Spare time is usually devoted to income generating activities such as weaving mats from local pandanas leaves to sell at the market.

There is a growing need within traditional communities to develop alternative livelihood projects to help increase and diversify income generation opportunities within remote villages. New income generating activities can help to enhance local sustainability and resilience, especially as livelihoods continue to be negatively affected by the changing climate ( for instance due to the resulting reduction of fish stocks and other natural assets as result of coral bleaching due to climate change).

The GVI expedition project based in the Dawasamu district has been helping to create and facilitate new income generation projects for the womens groups in the area. This month we have developed a new project based in Nasinu, a small, remote coastal village. The women already have basic sewing skills and have access to a sewing machine, which belongs to the womens group. This existing capacity presented strong potential and there was demonstrated interest amongst the women in the opportunity to set up a tailoring business. It was decided that the main focus of the business would be to produce Sulu Chambas and Bula shirts (traditional Fijian dress worn on all formal occasions). Workshops were held to

Figure 1 - Women in Nasinu Measure Fabric

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give women the opportunity to practice their sewing skills and talk through a business model with the support of GVI staff. GVI volunteers have initially provided the bulk of the business as many are interested in purchasing formal dress during their stay in Fiji. So far, the women have already produced Sulu Chambas and Bula shirts for the entire GVI staff team and some volunteers, as well as produced large bean bags and curtains for the GVI base. Once the women have refined their tailoring skills and built up a stock of material, the project will expand into neighbouring villages to ensure its sustainability. This means that the project has longevity with a good opportunity to develop and cater to other markets.

Alongside this new project, we are continuing to support our original income generation and waste management project in Silana; the creation of purses, wallets, and bag wallets out of woven up-cycled plastic wrappers. There is also plans for an to start making jewellery from recycled magazines and newspaper beads. Necklaces and bracelets will be sold to volunteers as souvenirs. This provides a steady income to many women in the village at the same time as reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.

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Figure 2- Buli from Nasinu practices her new sewing machine skills

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Figure 3 GVI Staff member, Beth, shows off her new Sulu Chamba made by the woment of Nasinu